This young man is going places.
A few weeks ago I came across this open letter from Dominique Beachum on a Facebook group. The letter tells a little about Dominique’s background, what he believes in, some of his experience, and his intentions on running for Texas’ 26th Congressional District in 2026 as a Democrat.
[mepr-hide] https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [/mepr-hide]Naturally, I was intrigued.
This young man, only 19 years old laid out who he was and how his attention has been on foreign affairs, anti-discrimination, and the economy. He is currently in college working on a bachelors degree in Peace Studies. He has even been doing motivational speaking.
Some of my readers with older kids, can probably relate to my own feelings about this, as my oldest child is just a little older than Dominique Beachum. It is rare that you see a 19 year old with such a clear vision and direction.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Dominique last week and after my conversation with him. I saw a spark in this young man that left me inspired and excited for his future.
His beginnings.
Dominique Beachum is the eldest of 7 children. Like too many, his childhood was far from perfect and he went to live with his grandparents when he was 13 years old. His grandfather has been a big inspiration for him in helping mold and shape him to the person he is today.
“It’s funny,” he told me, “because I feel like I have more in common with people much older than me than in my own generation.”
If you’re at a get-together and you’re looking for him, you can usually find him on the front porch with the older generation, sipping sweet tea, and having a philosophical discussion. (He did say sweet tea, Texans. Points for that.)
He said that when he was a small child, he wanted to be the first Black president ever elected. That was before Barack Obama. Dominique Beachum was born in 2001 and Obama was elected in 2008. He has aspired to have a political career for nearly his entire life.
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So what about politics?
Here is Dominique Beachum pictured with Congressman Michael Burgess of Texas’ 26th Congressional District.
“I’ve had the opportunity to meet and speak with Congressman Burgess on multiple occasions. I’ve also worked closely with people who worked on George W. Bush’s campaign, and have met and worked with many in the political world while in the AFJROTC program.”
“Did they know you were a Democrat?” I had to ask.
“No, I never told them. They’ve asked, but I’ve said let’s talk about policies and if we agree, we can keep talking.”
So, in his interactions with these hardliner Republicans has all been based on ideas and policies, but not political affiliation. They’ve all told him that he’s a rising star. Undoubtedly, they saw the same spark in him that I did.
And unsurprisingly, many of these Republicans Dominique has interacted with have tried to recruit him and pull him under their wing. They’ve told him that they can help him on a path to money and fame if he joins their team. But that isn’t what he wants.
Why 2026?
You have to 25 years old to run for Congress of the United States of America. Since Dominique Beachum is only 19, he isn’t eligible to run for congress, yet. I asked if he had thought about running for another seat before hand, maybe a municipal seat or the state legislator.
He said that this is his calling and the path that he has thought about his entire life. Because of what his political passion and focuses have been, he feels like he can make more of an impact in Congress than at City Hall.
He has planned out his entire political career.
After running for Congress, which he is expecting to win, he wants to serve three terms, and then run for Governor of Texas in 2032. Then he would like to server two terms and run for President in 2040.
“That’s pretty lofty,” I told him, “What happens if you run and don’t win?”
Dominique was adamant, there may be bumps in the road, but his goals will remain unchanged.
What does Dominique Beauchum stand for?
“As Americans,” he said, “There are three things we all must have. These things cannot be disputed. Those three things are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That has to include access to healthcare and quality education. Life is not supposed to be a competition. Affordable and accessible education should be available to everyone. People should not die or go without medication for lack of access to healthcare.”
I asked what he thought about Texas’ current political leadership.
[mepr-hide] https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [/mepr-hide]“The longer you leave milk on the counter, the more it spoils. Progress won’t come from people who are in their 60s and 70s. Progress will come from the younger generations.”
Did I mention he was only 19? Dominique Beachum is definitely an old soul and perhaps wise beyond his years.
Speaking of progress.
I asked him for his take on the current Civil Rights Uprising.
“We live in one of the most partisan times in America. There are two reasons for this. The first being when we elected Barack Obama, the first Black president, it drew out a rage from many that we haven’t seen in generations. That has all been compounded by the election of Donald Trump, one of the worst presidents we’ve ever seen.
But not all Republicans are horrible people,” he stressed, “Part of the problem is everyone chooses one side and then bashes on the other. I won’t do that. I learned from my interactions with Congressman Burgess and other political leaders that we have more in common than we have differences. It’s okay when we disagree on policies, it only becomes a problem when we disagree on values.”
He went on, “The way that I can compare our current political movement is that there are two groups. One is like the Martin Luther King movement, the other like the Malcolm X movement. For generations Black Americans have been saying that their tired of being bullied. They’ve done everything they can. They’ve marched and protested, but here we are in 2020 and racism is still here. Now, this generation is saying, you weren’t listening before, we said we’re tired of being bullied, now we’re going to hit back.”
How do we come together again?
He gave an analogy of five dogs in a pin fighting over food. Two of the dogs are getting fat, but the other three are getting so skinny that you can see their ribs. We have to stop fighting and we have to stop giving the food to the two fat dogs while the other three starve.
[mepr-hide] https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [/mepr-hide]He said, that’s why he likes Joe Biden so much, because he sees Biden as someone who can be fair and reach across the aisle. Partisanship is a big deal to Dominique Beachum. For example, he spoke about even though he disagreed with Congressman Burgess on his policies and some of the things he stood for, he wouldn’t bash him, because bashing someone didn’t align with his values.
He also said he related Hillary Clinton because of how strong she is and through everything she’s been through, she’s still standing tough. Because of the tribulations he went through as a kid, he feels like he’s developed a thick skin as well.
Aside from Hillary and Biden, he also admires Al Sharpton, Al Green (D) from Houston, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Harvey, and Barack Obama.
What’s next?
Since 2026 is such a long time from now in the political world, his main focus is going to be establishing his platform, as well as growing his name recognition.
He is planning on kicking off his campaign next year with the production docuseries surrounding who he is and with interviews of his family, friends, and mentors. 2021 will also begin his voter outreach and partnerships with organizations and groups whose values align with his own.
The plan is to release the docuseries in 2022 when he will officially announce his bid for congress. He compared his strategy to Cori Bush and believes it is most important to get the voters to know who he is and what he stands for long before the election day when he’s on the ballot.
Dominique Beachum is going places and Living Blue in Texas plans to follow him all the way. We’ll check in with him again next year to see how his goals are coming along. In the meanwhile, you can follow him on Twitter, to also see how he’s moving along his path.
Still Blue in Texas 